Istanbul = Taksim

After visiting the old palaces of Istanbul, we headed for the more modern sections of the city. We took the funikular, an underground train similar to the Carmelit in Haifa, up under the hillside to Taksim for a walk along crowded Istiklal Caddesi Street.


There were very modern shops along the street, and at least four Starbucks coffeeshops along its length. A special streetcar clanged its bell as it made its way between the many people.



We tried to find Istanbul's biggest synagogue, located at the far end of the street, but by that point we were very tired from all our walking, so instead we headed down a second funikular train and caught the tram back to our hotel.

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